Having a “ bird brain ” is not as insulting as it sounds . Despite their shrimpy brain size , some fowl have been establish to bejust as smartas apes . Perhaps a little - know type of neuron – the neocortical intratelencephalic cell – could excuse why .
A fresh report has looked into razz Einstein and their neural circuitry , only to let on that they actually possess a case of brain prison cell very standardized to one found in primates . This might suggest at why both these beasts share a alike sensory faculty of word despite having such different brain social system and evolutionary pasts .
“ snort are more reasoning than you think , and they do apt things . So , the question is : What kind of head circuitry are they using?”Clifton Ragsdale , professor of neurobiology at the University of Chicago and fourth-year author of the study , said in astatement . “What this research picture is that they ’re using the same cell types with the same kinds of connection we see in the neocortex , but with a very different kind of organization . ”
The enquiry , recently published in the journalCurrent Biology , look at the dorsal ventricular ridge ( DVR ) of chickens . This domain of the snort psyche is believed to roleplay a similar purpose to the primates ' neocortex , a large glob of the brain relate with communication , sensorial percept , cognition , and high - level intelligence . However , one job with this comparison is that the DVR and the neocortex are completely unlike social structure .
" The body structure of the avian DVR look nothing like the mammalian neocortex , and this has historically been a huge trouble in relative neuroscience , " said lead author Steven Briscoe . " anatomist have debated how to equate the DVR and neopallium for over a one C , and our identification of IT neurons in the bird DVR helps to explain how such different brain structures can give rise to similar behaviors . "
Now , scientists have discovered that birds and primates both have very similar neocortical intratelencephalic cell , also eff as IT neurons , within their DVR and neocortex .
Weirdly enough , chick and primate also share this similarity with another animal , not so associate with high - stratum tidings : gator . Crocodilians are the closest living relative of birds , but these group vary more than 240 million year ago . While it ’s ill-defined why alligator do n’t have the sharp wits of an anthropoid , it does mystify the idea that birds and primates evolved higher cognitive ability severally from one another zillion of old age ago .
“ [ The cells are ] not just found in mammals , which we sleep together , but in non - avian reptile like alligators and avian reptiles , or birds , " Ragsdale said . " It begins to clarify where and how in development we got this terrific structure , the neocortex . "
